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Capriotti's was founded in Wilmington, Delaware in 1976.[3][4][7] The restaurant is named after the founders' grandfather, Philip Capriotti.[3][8] In 1988, the second restaurant location opened in New Castle, Delaware. In 1991, Capriotti's began franchising their restaurants.[9]

Counter area of a Capriotti's in Rosslyn, Arlington, Virginia

In 1993, the first restaurant location in Las Vegas, Nevada was opened on Sahara Avenue, near Las Vegas Boulevard.[10] In 2004, Ashley Morris and Jason Smylie opened a franchise in Las Vegas. At the time, Morris was the youngest financial adviser at Wells Fargo.[10][11][12][13] Smylie was a software engineer at Bechtel Nevada. Morris and Smylie were also investors in the housing market and made the decision to invest in a franchise after learning that the return on investment was higher than anything they were looking at investing in.[13] In 2007, Morris and Smylie put the company in escrow. In the following year Morris, Smylie and a group of investors consisting of 95% Las Vegans bought Capriotti's. Capriotti's had 44 restaurant locations by the end of 2008.[12] Morris is the CEO of the company.[12][13][14][15] In 2008 and 2009 the chain was the official sandwich sponsor of the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.[16][17] Capriotti's was ranked in Entrepreneur magazine's top 500 franchise list in 2010 and remained ranked through 2014.[12]

Capriotti's starred on Food Network'sUnwrapped in December 2011.[18][19] In November 2013, Capriotti's expanded its presence on the East Coast by opening its first location in Washington DC.[20][21]Joe Biden was the first customer served at the store's grand opening.[21][22][23] That year, Capriotti's brought in over $58 million in revenue and experienced a 48% growth over the previous three years.[24] In 2014, the company was named one of the "Top 10 Best Food Franchises for Your Buck" and one of "America's Best Franchises" by Forbes magazine.[25][26]

The Sandelman & Associates Quick Track Study on the Top 10 Quick Service Restaurant Concepts ranked Capriotti's among the top ten in overall satisfaction[27] and won the award for highest quality and taste in the 2014 study.[28]

In November 2009, the Bobbie, one of Capriotti's signature sandwiches, was voted "The Greatest Sandwich in America" by AOL.com.[31] The sandwich is made with pulled turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing and mayonnaise.[31] The Margolets named it after their aunt.[32] In 2012, USA Today named Capriotti's one of the "10 Great Places for a Surprising Sandwich."[33]